A Ukrainian partisan blew up a Mi-28N helicopter—NATO reporting name “Havoc”—at a Russian airbase 550 km north of Ukraine, in what appears to be a bold sabotage operation deep inside Russian territory. Militarnyi reports that the aircraft was stationed at the 344th Combat Training and Flight Personnel Conversion Center near Torzhok in Tver Oblast.

Ukrainian saboteur infiltrates Russian aviation base in Tver Oblast

According to Militarnyi, the Telegram channel People’s Resistance of Ukraine partisan movement released footage showing how a lone partisan managed to penetrate the restricted area of Russia’s only elite helicopter training center. The infiltrator planted two small explosive devices beneath the landing gear of a Mi-28N helicopter, which was parked in the open near the airstrip.

Although the actual detonation was not caught on camera, the group stated that the blast damaged or destroyed the aircraft. They added that Russian military authorities have concealed the fact of the intrusion and the subsequent explosion. Instead, the resistance movement pointed to local civilian reports from 31 May, which described hearing explosions and seeing smoke near the airbase.

Mi-28N helicopter destroyed at key Russian military hub

The Mi-28N helicopter, also designated in Russia as the “Night Hunter,” is valued at around $18 million. The 344th center where the sabotage occurred plays a central role in training and retraining pilots and maintenance crews for all variants of army aviation helicopters used by Russia’s Aerospace Forces and by partner nations. The center is also home to the Berkuts aerobatic team, which flies Mi-28N helicopters.

Previous sabotage cases inside Russian airbases

This is not the first case of sabotage reported deep within Russia. In 2022, Ukraine’s Main Intelligence Directorate published footage showing explosive devices being planted on helicopters at a Russian airbase. That explosion reportedly destroyed two Ka-52 Alligator helicopters and seriously damaged two more aircraft. Russian media also reported on that incident.

Additionally, in early 2023, unknown saboteurs allegedly set fire to a Su-34 bomber at an airfield in Russia’s Cheliabinsk.